Rogue Diamond (10 page)

"If they're cutting human services, who's the favored department?" Alex caught a glimmer in Rosemary's eyes. "Agriculture?"

Rosemary pu
shed a wisp of brunette hair be
hind her ear. "Believe me, it has not made for the most pleasant home life. Realistically, though, I
know how desperately that department needs to be upgraded. Why, two years ago, Sam presented a proposal to the department head. It's taken that long for action, Alex. Now it looks like they're going to supply the money he needs for more modern equipment and trained staff. They've got to
catch up with the twent
y-first
cen
tury in agriculture. All of that takes money, lots of it, and the Univer
si
ty has only so much to spend."

"Sounds
like you've been properly brain
washed. I understand about budgets, Rosemary. I'm just thinking about how all of this effects me." Alex
si
ghed. "I'll be the first to go."

"Well, I'll be soon after you. I don't have that much tenure eithe
r. And I, too, am a norteameri
cana." Rosemary motioned to the waiter for more coffee.

"How can they do this? People, not plants or equipment, are involved in our programs. They're importa
nt to the future of Mexico. Peo
ple—children—are the hope of the future
.
Not some damn machines
.
"

Rosemary shook her head. "I can't agree with you more, Alex. But some things are out of our control."

"Can't we do something?"

"The department heads are meeting with the pre
si
dent and board of regents at the end of this week. We'll know more after that."

Alex paused as the waiter refilled their cups. "Then final deci
si
ons haven't been made?"

"No. That'll be done in a few weeks, when the
proposed budget
is presented and discussed. De
partment head
s will be consulted and counter
proposals submitted."

Alex lifted her chin. "Counter
proposals?"

Rosemary seemed to have the same idea that flashed in Alex's mind. "Yes, objections can be submitted. They may not carry much influence, but it's a chance to state your department's needs and how the new budget will affect it."

"A chance is better than nothing!" Alex said eagerly. "Wh
y don't we work on a counter pro
posal, Rosemary?"

"Well . . ."

"Come on." Alex nodded enthu
si
astically. "Our jobs are at stake here, not to mention the programs out in the field. The kids need them
so much.
We've got nothing to lose. This is our only chance, our
fighting chance to present some
thing to the board, something that shows our belief in the worthiness of our program."

Rosemary nodded, her enthu
si
asm not equal to Alex's, but she was agreeable to the idea. "We probably should do something."

"Okay, it's settled. Each of us should make a rough plan and meet again tomorrow to discuss it. We'll combin
e our ideas and write a counter
proposal."

When they par
ted, Alex wore a smile of deter
mination on her lips. Rosemary's expres
si
on wasn't quite so resolute.

Later that afternoon Alex's determination had dwindled somewhat, replaced by a look of urgency when she barged into Nick's ramshackle office. "We have to find her, and fast, Nick. If my job is eliminated, I'll be forced to return to the States. And I refuse to leave without—"

Alex stopped
when she saw the shapely dark-
haired woman
si
tting on Nick's desk. "Oh, I didn't know you were busy, Nick."

He motioned nonchalantly to the attractive woman on his right. "We were just discus
si
ng
a tour. Alex Julian, meet Lia.
..."

Alex nodded curtly.
“Hola.”

Lia slid off her perch and stood enticingly close to Nick, who was still seated at the desk. His eyes, Alex noticed, were focused on Lia's curvaceous bosom. "I'm so excited because Nick's taking me to the Mayan temple of Palenque!"

"The one where virgins were sacrificed?" Alex asked sarcastically.

"Oh! I hadn't heard about that."
She crossed her hands at her ample cleavage.

"Well, you won't have to worry," Alex said. "That happened hundreds of years ago, and I'm sure Nick is a very capable pilot. Well, nice to meet you Lia. I have to go."

Alex pivoted and left the office. Nick lunged into the hallway after her. "Wait. I thought you came by for a reason."

"It's nothing. I can see you're busy."

"You were saying you're on the verge of lo
si
ng your job."

"I was saying that time's running out for me to find Jenni. Do you have any information on her?"

He shook his head.

"Then what the hell are you doing here?" She
caugh
t her tongue, knowing full well that Lia was keeping him occupied.

"Do you hav
e any brilliant ideas?" he coun
tered, relea
si
ng the frustration he felt at the lack of leads on the case.

"Yes, as a matte
r of fact, I do. I'm going some
where I hope I don't find her. But I have to go."

"Where?"
He touched her arm.

"The hospital."

"The hospital?" His voice gentled. "She's not there, Alex."

"How do you know? Have you been there?"

"No, but—"

"What if Jenni was injured that day and carried off to the hospital by someone else and has never been identif
ied? Or is lying up there uncon
scious! I asked about her the day of the accident and they hadn't seen her, but maybe she's been brought in
si
nce then—" Alex stopped with an emotional hitch in her voice.

"Well, it's pos
si
ble, of course," Nick replied. "But not probable. The police would have been notified. And they would have called you."

"Don't tell me what the police would do. They've given up on it. They don't care if I find her. Not really." She gave him an accu
si
ng look.

"I have more im
portant things to do this after
noon than to go off on wild goose chases looking for this kid," he said.

"Nobody asked you to go."

"But that's why you stopped by here."

"I came by to see if you had any leads." She motioned impatiently. "Please go back in
si
de
and plan your Mayan temple tour. Just let me know if you discover anything important while you're
si
tting around on your ass. Or pos
si
bly you'll get a brilliant idea while flying over Palenque." Alex wheeled about and strode down the hall, not realizing until that very moment how absurdly jealous she was of Lia. And dammit, she had no right to be!

"Wait a minute!" Nick called out to her. "I want to go. You might just find her. Then I'd be out of a job
.
"

Alex halted. "Don't feel obliged to follow me around."

"I don't feel
obliged to do
anything
. I want to go with you.
"

The door to his office had opened during this exchange, and now a tremulous voice broke into the verbal jabbing: "But Nicky, what about our trip?"

"Another time, Lia," Nick said.

Alex turned large indigo eyes on him, then let her gaze flutter over a pouting Lia. "Don't let me interfere with your bu
si
ness . . . Nicky."

His eyes flickered angrily. "I will decide what is and is not interference. Now, let's go." It was a command, and hi
s expres
si
on told her she'd bet
ter not push him further. "You don't mind, do you, Lia? This is very important bu
si
ness."

"I'll bet!" She
sashayed past them, her three-
inch heels clicking on the tile floor.

"I'll be in touch, Lia."

"Don't bother!" she flung back.

"This is probably just a waste of time," Nick fumed.

"Well, we certainly don't want you to waste your precious time. So why are you going with me?"

"Damned if I k
now," he said, but he was think
ing more of spending time with Alex
than of find
ing the child. And being with her wasn't wasting time. He flipped the cardboard
si
gn so the other
si
de was vi
si
ble through the cracked glass door. Cerrado. Closed. "I'll drive you over there."

Alex con
si
dered him for a moment. "Nick, are you taking this job seriously?"

"Of course." He grinned devilishly as he locked the door. "I feel like an honest-to-God detective doing
this. Why,
even
Jose
is out ques
tioning witnesses today. Don't I remind you of
one of those detectives on TV
?"

Alex rolled her eyes upward as they left the building.

"Actually, this new detective stuff has given my career an added dimen
si
on. I may include it on my door, under where it says Aircraft Service. Something like Private Investigation—We Find Anyone, Anywhere." He opened the rusty gray door of his VW van.

"Don't be in such a hurry to add that line. So far, I'm afraid I
couldn't give you a recommenda
tion."

"Why? Don't you think I've conducted our bu
si
ness profes
si
onally enough? If you're think
ing of that one little indiscretion at your house, I can assure you it won't happen again. I intend to exercise the highest degree of restraint whenever I'm around you in the future. Anyway, you asked for that one."

She paused at the open door to the van. "What? I did not!"

"Well, I don't mean in so many w
ords. But that look. Those eyes.
Why, I just couldn't re
si
st." He flashed her a smile then left her to mount the step-up into the van by herself while he hurried around to the driver's
si
de.

Alex decided Nick was tea
si
ng about his r
ea
sons for the kiss, and wasn't about to argue whether she had invited it. Not only did she want his kiss that day, but a broad shoulder to cry on. "Nick, I couldn't recommend you as a detective because you haven't come up with one tiny clue. You don't have one lead or suggestion for finding my child. Why, even this trip to the hospital was my idea."

"And I'm not so sure it's a good one either." He jerked the van into gear and concentrated on the traffic.

"What if she's there?"

"Then it'll be a good idea."

"You're impo
s
si
ble, Nick Diamond! I'm begin
ning to think I'd get more help from the police
.
"

"Please, don't compare me with them
.
"

"But you've both come up with the same thing. Nada!"

"The police aren't willing to do this with you." He pulled to a stop in the hospital's parking lot.

"No, they aren't, Nick. And I appreciate your coming." She grew quiet as they approached the
large, looming building. Her face told of the stress she felt, and the fear.

They took the elevator up to the children's floor and approached the nurse at the front desk. "I'm looking for a little girl," Alex said in Spanish. "A year and a half old. I think she was injured in an accident a few days ago."

"Her name, senorita?"

"Jenni. Well, I'm not sure." Alex groped for the right explanation. "She . . . she's my friend's child and coul
d have been registered under an
other name."

The nurse lo
oked at Alex strangely for a mo
ment, then checked her roster. "We have two little girls of that age. Neither one is named Jenni."

"Could I . . . could we see them? Just to make sure?"

The nurse inclined her head in a reluctant nod. "If you'll follow me."

They stepped into a large room lined with beds filled with dark-eyed children of all
si
zes. Alex gave a slight, tiny gasp.